Tomorrow Is Another Day

I was confident in a Hokie win going into yesterday's game. In fact, I'd assured myself there was no chance we'd lose to Boise State, and for no good reason too. Oh sure, if you had asked me I could've given you specifics: Ryan Williams, a matured Tyrod Taylor, my faith in Bud Foster, etc... But really I believed, like everyone else, that fate had our back.

Over the course of sixty minutes Boise State proved fate doesn't win football games. It didn't matter that we set FedEx's proverbial roof on fire, or that we wore black uniforms, or that we were playing in our backyard. Nope, the Broncos reaffirmed for me that blocking, tackling and effort win football games. And on a beautiful summer night, that felt like it was on loan from fall, on the outskirts of D.C. Boise did those very things better than us.

From where I was sitting it looked like they controlled the line of scrimmage all night long. The Broncos confused and opened interstate wide running lanes against our young defensive line and held their ground against our veteran offensive line. Their running backs ran downhill, aggressively and with a purpose. Austin Pettis and Titus Young were magnificent at finding soft sports in our secondary. And Kellen Moore is worthy of every compliment thrown his way.

As for the Hokies, when your program's philosophy is predicated on tenacious defense and special teams you can't arm tackle, miss a field goal and have a punt blocked. Aside from an atrocious decision by Bryan Stinespring to call a designed Taylor run on 2nd and 6 during our second to last drive I thought the offense played well enough. We controlled the clock for 34:20, got Ryan Williams his touches and let Tyrod zip the ball around. Simply put we looked like a team that hadn't played a football game since New Year's Eve and need to execute much better going forward.

Don't be confused, because this isn't a eulogy about the 2010 season. This team showed grit and character by battling back and not folding down 17-0. It's only September 7th, we've got 13 more games to play and all our flaws are fixable. Even though the losses to USC, LSU and ECU should make me think otherwise, the day I stop blindly believing that it'll all come together is the day I stop being a Hokie.

Comments

our kids picked it up and started to look great. That game in Oct probably wouldn't have ended that way. I am not gonna take anything away from Boise, they played a hell of a game and looked like the number 3 team. We also looked like the number 10 team in the country. My biggest gripe is that ESPN is playing this "who doubts Boise state now." We were the underdogs going into the game. We were ranked lower, we had more questions, and they returned almost all there starters. Boise blew a 17-0 lead and won in the end. Tyrod shouldn't have audibled to a 50 yard pass on 3 and 7 with 1:40 left on the clock and no time outs for Boise. Worst case there is we take 60 seconds off the clock, best is RMFW gets a first down and the game is over. I'm done with my soap box and happy we played one hell of a football game.

"I don't know what a Hokie is, but God is one of them.' So I'm going with God. I'm going with Virginia Tech." Lee Corso Aug 23, 2000

I know, according to the media Boise has now justified their entire 2010 season by defeating a lower ranked team that had an unimpressive defense. Not only that, but Tyrod was able to exploit their secondary standing behind a holey offensive line.

what is this? great article and well-thought out comments. it is good to hear from reasonable minded hokie fans who don't want beamer fired, who think there is still a season left to play, and who don't want to see our team completely re-done.

The commenters around these parts are some of the most rational and intelligent around.

It's absurd how many people think our season is over after one loss. Remember when we got thrashed by LSU and "all was lost". Had we had beaten Boston College, we would have qualified for the MNC. No bones about it, we need to improve, but we have the talent and potential to be a great team. There's a long way to go between now and December.

1. Down 17-0 to #3 team yet still come back to lead twice in the 4th. Team has heart and talent.
Coaching-Even with heart and talent, need better game situational awareness and control (get an expert at this?).
2. Need better clock management down the stretch. Run the play clock to near zero and don't pass. Time trumps field postion - go for it on 4th down to kill more time.
3. Call time outs to settle the young D (and the coaches) when they are under attack.
4. Have a better plan for the 1 minute offense and practice it. Use it even if you don't need to (in the first quarter of the first game) to get practice. Since you have only done it in scrimmage you shouldn't be waiting until the end of the first game.
5. Be careful scheduling early season top 5 match-ups.

6. FedEx has never seen a bigger tailgate party! A sea of maroon, orange, and black. It was a great scene. The weather was perfect and the crowd was loud. Had a great time until the end.

"Even though the losses to USC, LSU and ECU should make me think otherwise, the day I stop blindly believing that it'll all come together is the day I stop being a Hokie."

No Crystal this year as I had hoped but I'll be back again next year egging you on Joe even though my trust has once again been misplaced.

I finally got back online today, peaking through my fingers at the headlines before I ventured into my usual haunts. Except for the usual ignorant ACC-haters, most people seemed to take the game at face value i.e. good game, as advertised, etc.

It might be nice to sit comfotably where Boise St is at right now, but at least we have a real season to look forward to between now and the bowl game. And it's also good knowing that 20 points off of miscues is a lot to spot someone and still be in it to the end.